Maron is right in his general views and Phillips is either an idiot, wrong, and/or being provocative to court fans. Phillips is annoying in this quote and I’m annoyed.

I think there is an interesting opportunity, though, for talented comedians to find new nuances. That’s what they do.  For example, Phoebe Waller-Bridge…

Yes, those films exist and they were not popular with the “mainstream”... My point is the mainstream very clearly delineates between a “classy” mobster of Italian or Irish descent and the rest. Go read a New York paper sometime - you’ll see the distinction plain as day.

Agreed, but I think the framing is key.  The Untouchables is the story of law enforcement.  Making Capone villainous is not just easy, it’s necessary for the mechanics to work.

Ok, yes, that was a brutal moment.  And a moment where it seemed like Tom was truly in control.  What a chilling scene.  Still, I’d say Sonny, Michael, and Fredo were all more “evil” than him.

I have read lots of Dickens.  But perhaps it’s that I learned it in school that makes me feel like it’s not “cheap pop”.  (At some point, I wonder if there’s even a distinction between pop and art.  And fuck you Warhol fans - I grew up in Pittsburgh - I want none of that.)

I agree, mostly.  (And I think this means that asking if people prefer Godfather I or II often serves as a decent psychological profiling question.)  But, the under-discussed aspect of the film, made even clearer in the second, is that Michael and even Vito never wanted any of this.  And it strengthens the argument…

Agreed.  Also interesting is the (deeply enduring) racial legacy of mob movies.  Somehow, white America can view the American mob as distinct and even virtuous, when their exact black or Hispanic equivalents are looked at as venal, vile, and evil.  I don’t blame the movie for it, per se - it accurately reflected its…

Yeah, Duvall brings a soulfulness to his performance that really elevates the movie.  This aspect - the richness and variety of the performances - really elevates the movie.  I will always remember the last two scenes of Duvall in Godfather II - Hagen ends up providing the last emotional response to Michael in the…

I think one big strength of the Godfather is how it helped create dual-track pop-culture.  Where a work exists with profound artistic vision on one level, and can also be enjoyed by idiots who miss the meaning altogether.  (How many bros want to be Michael Corleone?)  From here, we got, linearly, Goodfellas and the…

Wait, what?  False.  Tom is, by far, the most sympathetic Corleone.  He has no agency in this scene, and in general, but he generally advises against further mayhem, contrary to the wishes of his brothers.

While I despise Miller and wish several forms of cancer on him, this post is wrong. Miller won. This story won’t take down Trump because all he needs is bluster and anger from his base. The team is committed and they will double down. And if the left does what I expect them to do (fracture, go with a flawed candidate,…

Also, Minshew Gardner II is savvy, and cagey.

As I get older, I want to get some sort of adult curation service that identifies all of the comics and video games worth reading and playing for people who have decent taste.  I feel like DC/Marvel are in this cycle (maybe they’ve been in it for years) where they go 1/3 straight pulp nonsense, 1/3 solid but average,…

Sincere question - am I the only one who has checked out of the NFL until Brady and Belichick are gone? They’ve sucked all life and drama from the sport, IMO. (Though I generally dislike dominance and found the worst recent eras of the NBA to be MJ’s Bulls and Shaq/Kobe’s Lakers.)

The GOP is generally a lagging indicator.  I’m just putting an accurate clock on the inevitable.  

A very savvy culturejammer needs to start pushing the young MAGAns into the watersports community.  Just get like two to attend with MAGA hats on, getting peed on, and this will go SO viral.

“Well, urine is sterile!” - GOP in 2020.

And Ser Phalanges means “pedantic”.

Also, actually, “el camino” can translate into many words including, way, road, path, track, course, journey, trail, pathway... 

Saving Mr. Banks! 

What are the odds that the entire movie is Jesse Pinkman, Badger, and Skinny Pete creating their Star Trek fan fic script using Jesse’s meth money?